Don’t Count on Diving For Fitness, but Do Count on Fitness for Diving.
Anyone who reads dive journals has seen many a dive magazine article on the interesting health emergencies that can befall us while diving. More recently dive journals seem to be printing more articles about why you need to get and stay fit to dive. So, I wondered if there was any research about how diving helps keep you fit.
Like many divers I spoke with, I supposed that swimming, carrying my tanks and maybe even breathing more oxygen could all be helpful in adding to my general fitness level. But, after a chat with DAN (Divers Alert Network) researcher, Dr. Neal W Pollock my fantasy dissolved.
After a preface about the lack of research on the subject, Dr Pollack pointed out that, while it is vital to be fit to dive, recreational diving is usually not enough alone to help our general fitness. Additionally, any potentially fitness enhancing activities associated with diving may be canceled out by other physiological factors. Dr. Pollock used my question about the benefits of breathing higher concentrations of oxygen to point out that there is also physiological stress associated with the increased production of free radicals during the exposure.
Preparing for a dive we do carry heavy gear, but often not for long enough to constitute a good workout. The same holds true for swimming while diving. Our surface swims are seldom long enough to matter. After we get enough experience diving to be comfortable, we tend to use less energy underwater than at a picnic.
THE GOOD NEWS
It is not all bad news however. Dr Pollock pointed out a major indirect fitness benefit of diving. The strength and energy needed for diving often prompts divers to do other exercises and start fitness programs so that they can ready for, and feel better while diving. This has been the case in our household. After our first shore dives we felt like collapsing before we got to the water. We realized that we needed to hit the gym so we would be able to make it from the car to the shoreline with all of that gear. After many dives, we appreciate that, even more important than feeling comfortable walking to the water, is have the reserve fitness to handle emergencies while diving (e.g., currents, rescues).
Cameron Martz, president of Form Fitness, LLC and author of the book “Fitness for Divers“ added the following. “… exertion during or after a dive actually increases risk of DCS, while exertion before or during a dive increases gas consumption. So, it is generally preferred to make sure that diving is nowhere near the effort required to build fitness. In other words, if it feels like hard work, then you are working too hard for safe diving.”
There are many good articles on Fitness for diving in Alert Diver Magazine, a member benefit from DAN. Fitness issues are frequently discussed in the DAN annual report, available for download at no cost (http://www.diversalertnetwork.org).